News Release

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act - known as CERCLA, or the "Superfund" law - presents challenging issues about the relationship between federal and state pollution laws, regulatory oversight of contaminated property cleanups and enforcement of CERCLA's strict liability scheme. CERCLA takes a unique approach to federal environmental regulation, and the complexities of the issues that consequently arise will be discussed on Friday, November 11, when Southwestern hosts CERCLA and the future of Liability-Based Environmental Regulation.

Presented by the Southwestern Law Review, this day-long symposium will feature leading environmental law scholars and CERCLA experts as they gather to explore several important facets of this act. Southwestern Professor Ronald Aronovsky is chairing and serving as a panel moderator at the symposium. "CERCLA is unique among the major federal environmental statutes because of its tort-like, liability-based regulatory approach to addressing the multi-billion dollar problem of cleaning up hundreds of thousands of polluted sites across the country," he said. "The symposium will examine CERCLA's legacy thirty years after its enactment, its successes and failures, and what the future may hold for CERCLA's liability-based environmental regulatory model."

In addition to Professor Aronovsky, scheduled speakers and panel moderators include: Ann E. Carlson, Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law and Faculty Director, Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA School of Law; Robin Kundis Craig, Attorneys' Title Professor and Associate Dean for Environmental Programs, Florida State University College of Law; Joel B. Eisen, Professor of Law, University of Richmond; Steven Ferrey, Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School; Eileen Gauna, Professor of Law, The University of New Mexico School of Law; Craig Johnston, Professor of Law, and Clinical Director, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC), Lewis and Clark Law School; Martha L. Judy, Professor of Law, Vermont Law School; Alexandra B. Klass, Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Solly Robins Distinguished Research Fellow, University of Minnesota Law School; Alfred R. Light, Director, Graduate Program in Environmental Sustainability, and Professor of Law, St. Thomas University School of Law; Joel A. Mintz, Professor of Law, Nova Southeastern University; Romel Pascual, Deputy Mayor for Environment - City of Los Angeles; Jay Pendergrass, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law Institute; Robert Percival, Robert F. Stanton Professor of Law, and Director, Environmental Law Program, University of Maryland School of Law; William Rodgers, Stimson Bullitt Professor of Law, University of Washington School of Law; Daniel P. Selmi, Professor of Law and Fritz B. Burns Chair of Real Property, Loyola Law School; and Nicholas William Targ, Partner, Holland & Knight.

Registration starts at 8 a.m. and the conference begins at 9 p.m. The event also offers 5.5 hours of CLE credit. Registration Fees are $75 for Non-Southwestern Alumni seeking CLE credit; $50 for Southwestern Alumni and members of Co-Sponsoring Organizations seeking CLE credit; $40 for those not seeking CLE credit. Southwestern students, faculty and staff are complimentary, but an RSVP is required. Articles written in coordination with the symposium will be published in the Southwestern Law Review; copies of the issue will be sent to participants and will also be available for purchase. Click here for more information about the symposium, including a complete schedule and registration.

Co-Sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; Los Angeles County Bar Association Environmental Law Section and Litigation Section; and the State Bar of California Environmental Law Section, the symposium will be held on Southwestern's campus, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. Parking is available on campus for $8. For a map and directions to Southwestern, click here. Additional questions may be directed to the Law Review Office or the Student Affairs Office.